Should games have ages on them?

[Gregory DG]

My 6 year old nephew got a GameCube for Christmas. As I watched him struggle to figure out the endless menus and text of the N64 version of Zelda and Sonic, I began to wonder...

 

Why don't games have ages on them like toys do? You see the Fisher Price stuff that reads, "For Ages 2-4" or something like that. I'm wondering if games could benefit from that too?

 

I don't think the ratings system covers that per se. I'm talking about game complexity, the amount of reading required, etc. Obviously, a game that requires the ability to read wouldn't be very fun for a child that hasn't learned that skill yet.

 

[Nukey Shay]

I dunno if I agree...since it's relative about what a child's learning potential is (and necessity can be a very useful tool in learning).

[jetset]

That's actually not a bad idea, unfortunately there are too many cry-babies that would scream that it's "CENSORSHIP" and it would never happen.

Not to worry though..once that kid does get the hang of it, he'll finish the entire game in less time than you did. It's always amazing how quickly kids master games...

[Gregory DG]

That's actually not a bad idea,  unfortunately there are too many cry-babies that would scream that it's  "CENSORSHIP"  and it would never happen.

 

Toys have age recommendations, why not games? Never heard anyone cry censorship about a toy having a "Ages 5 and up" recommendation on it. Parents can choose to ignore it if they feel their kid is up to it.

 

Now, the ratings system where Wal-Mart and others check your I.D. before buying a game... That's much more controversial...

[Nukey Shay]

Think of those old Infocom text adventures. You aren't given instructions...you have to learn ways to communicate with the computer...and you have to read (often advanced) descriptions of where your character is. Due to it's complexity, you'd expect that games of that nature would have been placed above grade-school...when in fact just by playing the game, a young child can learn reading, logic, and reasoning skills...because they HAVE to in order to complete the game.

 

The reason that toys have age listings is because of what it consists of...a choking hazard, for example. It's just toy manufacturers covering their butt. I doubt that software publishers would want to limit their audience unless they were forced to similarly.

[Gregory DG]

Think of those old Infocom text adventures.  You aren't given instructions...you have to learn ways to communicate with the computer...and you have to read (often advanced) descriptions of where your character is.  Due to it's complexity, you'd expect that games of that nature would have been placed above grade-school...when in fact just by playing the game, a young child can learn reading, logic, and reasoning skills...because they HAVE to in order to complete the game.

 

There are exceptions to every rule or idea. I'm talking generalities. You certainly wouldn't give any English speaking person a Japaneese text adventure and expect them to learn the language by playing it.

[Nukey Shay]

No...but it would be a nice side-effect. Having age groups on software might make a parent pass it by instead of giving their kid that opportunity, though (and the publisher might lose out on sales regardless).

[Happy_Dude]

That's actually not a bad idea,  unfortunately there are too many cry-babies that would scream that it's  "CENSORSHIP"  and it would never happen.

I disagree.

An age rating is only a suggestion. How many kids play games rated MA 15+

 

I'm reminded of that Simpsons episode where Dr. Frink is teaching Kindergarden

and explaining how the ball thinggie works and the kids just want to play with it

[Nukey Shay]

Nono...we are not discussing games that have maturity ratings. Just games in general.

[Vic George 2K3]

Doesn't the ESRB ratings offer that kind of information? How much more do we want to tell not only kids what games are suitable for them to play, but also adults who are responsible for what games their children play with? Are there still parents out there who believe that "all games are safe for children" to the point where they buy anything off the shelf without really checking on what kind of material that game contains from the ESRB rating descriptors?

 

Personally, just as bad as censorship is the other extreme...pushing too many "adult-oriented" games out into the market to the point where they totally dominate over "all-ages" games or "safe for children" games, offering little or no decent gaming choices for players and parents of players who are turned off by the likes of Grand Theft Auto.

[jetset]

Maybe I worded that wrong. I just meant that if the age system were introduced, though a good idea it would create controversy. Not because it should...the rating system shouldn't be controversial, yet it is....Why? because there are too many people out there who piss and whine that the rating system is censorship. It isn't. However, just to cause a fuss, because it's their "right" there are people who insist it is.

I think those same people would have the same thing to say about an age reccomendation being printed on the label just to create the same worthless fuss IMO.

[PaulEMoz]

Doesn't the ESRB ratings offer that kind of information?  How much more do we want to tell not only kids what games are suitable for them to play, but also adults who are responsible for what games their children play with?  Are there still parents out there who believe that "all games are safe for children" to the point where they buy anything off the shelf without really checking on what kind of material that game contains from the ESRB rating descriptors?

 

Personally, just as bad as censorship is the other extreme...pushing too many "adult-oriented" games out into the market to the point where they totally dominate over "all-ages" games or "safe for children" games, offering little or no decent gaming choices for players and parents of players who are turned off by the likes of Grand Theft Auto.

 

They should use the same system in the US as they do for movies (and I think games) in the UK. Movies are rated 12, 15 and 18, and if you are not over those ages, you can not get in, no matter who you are with (of course, some do manage it, but generally speaking it works that way).

 

Someone was selling Fatal Frame 2 on eBay the other day after "it was bought for my 11 year old daughter". What kind of moron would buy a game like that for an 11 year old girl? It just shows there are still a lot of irresponsible and uninformed adults out there that just don't pay attention.

[Foxy Cleopatra]

I dunno if I agree...since it's relative about what a child's learning potential is (and necessity can be a very useful tool in learning).

 

 

I don't think putting an age level on a game is a bad thing, I think it may be helpful...

 

On the other hand, for my son's 4th birthday I got him a Playstation.... at first I didn't mind reading what was on the screen to him, but it shortly became very frustrating watching a four year old play Driver just to read anything that came on the screen ( I mean have you ever sat and watched a 4 year old play a video game? they dont play the game they just screw around, very frustrating) Anyway it got to the point where I just told him to figure it out. And he did. So basically playing video games that were not age appropriate helped my son learn to read.... and they say they aren't educational....

[Gregory DG]

This really isn't a ratings thread. Sure, my 6 year old nephew could play Grand Theft Auto 3 pretty easily... It even has voice through all the captions to tell you what to do.

 

I'm more wondering if overly complex games (like Everquest for example) could benefit parents by putting an "Ages 6 and up" style thing on them.

[liveinabin]

I think games definitely should have some age guidance on them.

My sister bought her (admittedly non too bright) 3 year old son a copy of Pokemon Ruby for Christmas. On the box it said '3+', but of course, that's just a rating for content suitability. He hasn't got a hope of playing something as text-heavy and complex as Pokemon.

 

Mind, after I explained the complexity of Pokemon to her, and her two sons swapped games (so the 3yr old now has Scooby Doo), what does she let him get with his Xmas money? The new Mario and Luigi RPG!!!

She is such a dumb ass

[Raijin Z]

My parents were drug addicts, and they taught me to read (with some help from Sesame Street) before I was even in kindergarden. What the hell's up with that?

[Albert]

I agree, age guidelines that provide additional information to parents buying a game can only be a good thing. It's not always obvious from looking at a game how much reading comprehension may be necessary, for instance. Board games also have these age recommendations.

 

However, game companies probably won't ever do this since it might cause some people NOT to buy their games.

 

..Al

[Raijin Z]

Maybe I should reiterate. There's no excuse for poor literacy when you're old enough to play video games.

[Nukey Shay]

Haha...but then you'd have people wandering about using phrases like "All your base are belong to us" and not noticing that it is bad grammar...depending on how many poorly-translated games the kid has.

 

Hey...wait a minute...

[MegaManFan]

E for Everyone

T for Teen

M for Mature

 

That works good enough for me.

[Raijin Z]

Haha...but then you'd have people wandering about using phrases like "All your base are belong to us" and not noticing that it is bad grammar...depending on how many poorly-translated games the kid has.

 

Hey...wait a minute...

 

Those days are long gone.

[video game addict]

Those days are long gone.

 

Is your sure?

[IronMongeR]

Kids who are too young to read most probably suck at most games and don't even know what they're doing. So I can't see it would make any real difference.

[cimerians]

It would help. But I'm a little more concerned about difficulty

 

Example:

 

Mothers, kids, girlfriends, fathers, very old brothers. All of these who cannot get past level 2 on Spyro the dragon. Spyro the dragon should have a difficulty rating on it.

 

More specifically, my older sister has her own PS2 apart from mine and she digs platform games. Problem is, over half of them are too hard for her and she simply gives up and not only that, she stopped buying games altogether about a year ago.

 

Hint-books, guides won't help and trying to get someone like that to use a cheat device is like trying to have your grandma play tackle football.

 

One good thing I noticed:

 

GAMESPOT.COM rates the difficulty of games in their reviews. Pretty good but again its from the reviewers standpoint.

[Hydian]

I think age reccomendations are a good thing. There should seriously be something for reading comprehension, hand/eye coordination, and getting that bunny to go in the damned hole!

 

I don't see an issue with it...put a reccomended age (educational titles already do this) but do it as a reading level. Also throw in a coordination requirement (scale it from easy to hard or something.)

 

I'd like to see the ratings that are already there get more like movie ratings too...."This game is rated M for cartoon-like adventure vampire robot violence and the word poop."